102" whip base install

[Marconi]

Can the radials on a ground plane be horizontal if a 1:1 balun is used?

You might need a choke or a balun with horizontal radials and the match will likely not be too good either. It might show a better match than it really is using a long feed line however.

This will solve your radials close to the roof problem. An A99 without radials will probably work better being low to the Earth. Again you need to get the antenna above the peak of you roof.

Height is might with a 1/4 wave GP antenna.

I find that mounted down low and with horizontal radials on a 1/4 wave GP you might get more current on the radials that don't radiate well, and get less current on the radiator where you need the current.

 

[Riverman]

Thanks, Marconi.
Good info.
I've thought about an A99 but everything I've read in these forums say it's a TVI headache waiting to happen. Especially only 15' off the ground.

 

[Onelasttime]

I have seen 102 inch whips and Firsticks mounted to the rain gutter of trailer. In one case the radio was being powered by a wall-wart. In every case it worked just fine. Is it ideal?No! If it is all you have to work with then it is fine. I once used metal coat hangers a hand held butane torch and 50/50 solder to make a dipole. The only radio I had access to was a 23 channel Pace. I talked all over the world with that. Once I was back home and had access to my RCI295o that old Pace 23 channel was pitched in the trash!

Always cover the basics with what ever you have to work with. A properly designed dipole that is set up right can easily outperform the most advanced mass produced antenna if it is setup by and idiot or the basics have not been covered.

MFJ used to sell a mount that was designed to allow you to use two mobile antenna as a cheap make shift base. It also made home brewing prototyping faster.

 

[Herbert Lindsey]

If you are like me you won't be satisfied with the performance of a 102 inch whip. Yes it will work, until you can get a proper base antenna. I use a Procom base antenna for about $75.00 and its up about 30 ft. I talk all over town and plenty of skip. Some guys like mower Junkie have used 102 inch whips as base antennas with good luck, but they always upgrade ..... Why if the 102" is enough? I'll tell you why. It's never enough in this hobby. Better antennas, better radios, louder mics, more watts, it never ends till you decide your happy to have what you have and if you can do that then you are a rare individual. Sure you can make stuff work and that's part of the learning process and the fun, but it's nice to have top notch equipment.

 

[whiteastro]

thanks for the input i think i can make this thing work now with the info obtained. thanks doc and cb magazine. i see it this way it has to work better than a little will sitting on top of the chimney. one last question should the radials be around the same langth as the whip?

Watch this video see if it helps.

 

[The DB]

If you are like me you won't be satisfied with the performance of a 102 inch whip. Yes it will work, until you can get a proper base antenna. I use a Procom base antenna for about $75.00 and its up about 30 ft. I talk all over town and plenty of skip. Some guys like mower Junkie have used 102 inch whips as base antennas with good luck, but they always upgrade ..... Why if the 102" is enough? I'll tell you why. It's never enough in this hobby. Better antennas, better radios, louder mics, more watts, it never ends till you decide your happy to have what you have and if you can do that then you are a rare individual. Sure you can make stuff work and that's part of the learning process and the fun, but it's nice to have top notch equipment.

So your Procom antenna mounted at 30 feet will outperform the ground mounted 102" whip that started this thread, or the one mounted to the gutter of a mobile trailer mention above... So, which one would be better if you mounted said proton on the ground or at the level of the gutter of a mobile antenna and the 102" whip was mounted 30 feet up? The answer is the 102" whip would easily outperform the Procom in that situation. Its simply not a fair comparison. Hell, take a 5 foot antenna and mount it 30 fet up and it will outperform the Procom antenna mounted on the ground or at gutter height of said mobile home.

Length is given way to much credit, it really is a distant second to the antenna's tip height, and by extension and more accurately, the point that is electrically 1/4 wavelength below the tip height. I get it, you don't mount antennas based on the tip height, but this is also leading to the illusion that length is the important part.

In most cases, adding another section of mast will more than make up for any deficiencies of using said shorter atnenna, and in some cases cause said antenna to outperform said longer antenna.


The DB